It is estimated that only ten percent of the entire German production of silent films have actually been preserved. However, the remaining ten percent includes some of silent film’s most important masterpieces

Judging by the solid sale of restored copies on DVDs, silent German films are becoming popular again. You also have a chance to see them on German, French and Austrian satellite channels. We used to see those films, albeit in poor condition, thanks to the Yugoslav Cinematheque. Today they are available in integral re-mastered editions. It is estimated that only ten percent of the entire German production of silent films have actually been preserved. However, the remaining ten percent includes some silent film’s most important masterpieces.
Of these, two were big hits of their time - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene (1920) and Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler by Fritz Lang (1922). The heroes of both films are criminal minds who use hypnosis to conquer the world. Film historians and sociologists called these two films prophetic because of what later happened in Germany. However, their influence on the new generations was not so much their content (although horror films of the next decades borrowed, with some variations, their narrative pattern) but rather their revolutionary form: film expressionism proclaimed the artificial reality, which seemed more effective than mere documentary note. The director had equal collaborators in the cinematographer and set designer (in Lang’s case in the editor, too) and created a visual whole that enchanted with its virtuosity.
The Golem: How He Came Into the World by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese (1920) is set in the Prague Jewish ghetto of the 16th century. The scene of the huge clay monster carrying a gentle virgin in his hands probably inspired the famous King Kong, made in Hollywood in 1933. Karl Freund, Golem’s cinematographer continued his career in Hollywood and became one of the masters of Hollywood horror in the 1930s.
Ernst Lubitsch also conquered Hollywood. He started his career in Germany making extremely popular costumed spectacles (Madame Dubarry, Anna Boleyn), but it was his comedies, such as The Oyster Princess (1919), that show his true talent. Irony and visual gags - we find them much more overtly utilized in films by Frank Tashlin and Blake Edwards. However, the subtle magic of Lubitsch’s touch remained unique.
Shattered by Lupu Pick (1921) is a special part of German expressionism - so called kammerspiel. Chamber action and only a handful of characters enabled the director to focus on the actors’ gestures and the creation of atmosphere, as well as completely freeing him from the necessity of using titles to expand on the narrative. Carl Mayer, screenwriter of Shattered (also wrote screenplay for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), was one of the most important authors of that time. Pick was supposed to direct his Der Letzte Mann, but after some creative quarrels, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau took over the direction and managed to create one of the most multi-layered German silent films. According to many, German silent classics do not trail behind their American counterparts at all. This program of German silent films certainly proves it. (Nenad Polimac)